“Ally McBeal,” Heteroflexibility, and Lesbian Visibility on TV

WhenAlly McBeal premiered in September 1997, lesbian kisses and lesbian
characters were infrequent and controversial on television, as illustrated by
the media frenzy over the coming-out of Ellen DeGeneres‘s sitcom character
that same year.

But by the time Ally McBeal finished its last season in May of 2002,
same-sex kissing between women &#8212 gay and straight &#8212 had become almost
commonplace on television.

Despite the many ways in which the show routinely rendered lesbian and bisexual women invisible, Ally McBeal is one of the reasons lesbian visibility has improved on television in the last few years.

David E. Kelley's hour-longseries about post-feminist lawyer Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart) was a ratings hit for Fox in its first few years because of its witty, un-"p.c." dialogue, quirky characters, and unusual mix of drama and comedy.

It was also frequently controversial (usually deliberately so),
and thrived on exploring contentious topics like homosexuality &#8212 especially
when it involved homosexual encounters between attractive young women.

Through frequent conversations between the (heterosexual) characters
about lesbianism orbisexuality, as well as several kisses between the female
characters, homoerotic dancing, and the occasional lesbian character, the series
contributed to the increasingly popular belief in American culture that most
women are secretly attracted to other women, but (almost) always in addition
to — and subjugated to &#8212 their attraction to men.

This curiosity by heterosexually-identified women isn't new,
but the increase in public awareness and public acceptance of it is a recent
development. It is best described by the term "heteroflexible," which
Salon.com writer Laurie Essig explains as the willingness to explore same-sex
encounters while clearly and publicly maintaining a preference for heterosexuality.

"Heteroflexible," Essig elaborates, "is a lighthearted
attempt to stick with heterosexual identification while still 'getting in
on the fun of homosexual pleasures'" (Nov 15, 2000).

Unlike
heterosexual women, heteroflexible women are open to homosexual experiences,
as long as these experiences stay firmly in the "experimentation"
camp. And unlike the bisexual woman or bisexual
straight woman, the heteroflexible woman makes no claim to bisexuality and
has no interest in developing a romantic relationship with women outside of
sex. Quite the opposite, in fact &#8212 her identity is securely rooted in heterosexuality.

In this way, a heteroflexible woman's sexuality functions much like a weeble wobble, the popular egg-shaped plastic child’s toy from the 1970’s with a round, weighted bottom that causes it to spring back into place whenever it is knocked down or pushed over: she might occasionally dabble in Sapphic encounters, but she eventually and inevitably returns to heterosexuality as her normal state of being.

There are numerous scenes and storylines throughout the lifetime of Ally McBeal that propagate the concept of heteroflexibility; in the second season alone (1998-1999), Ally McBeal discussed or portrayed sexual relationships between women in five of the twenty-two episodes.

But it is perhaps most clearly illustrated by the now-famous kiss
between Ally and Ling (Lucy Liu) in Episode 3.2 &#8212 which aired in November, 1999 &#8212 in which Ling's erotic dream about Ally causes the women to briefly flirt with the idea of having a sexual relationship. After a few days of wondering and talking about it, their desire culminates in a kiss, which both women admit they enjoyed.

Although both women ultimately conclude that what they really want out of a relationship is “a penis,” they were at least willing to consider the possibility that they might be “gay," as Ling verbalized in her statement prior to the kiss that conveyed she was “afraid” she might end up with a woman.